Spring yard + plants in afternoon sunlight

CNT Launches Affordability Index

Ever wonder how housing can be so inexpensive in some metro areas compared to others? And more to the point, ever wonder how much higher the cost of living must be in some outlying areas where housing is cheaper but getting to work - and school, shopping and play - all require a car? The Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology has just launched a 'housing-transportation-affordability index' that calculates just that, and in more than 50 communities. And they've done so in a very visual, easy-to-grasp way. This work is the result of a 2-year study, but in typical CNT fashion the result is not a dull report that you'll never read but a very user-friendly new web site.

CNT's Scott Bernstein explains:
“The index tells an alternative story of affordability than we’ve become accustomed to hearing. The real estate pages may list 2- and 3-bedroom homes for under $175,000 in suburban communities. That sounds affordable, right? But once you factor in transportation costs, the bargain goes away. Transportation costs can be as much or more than housing costs. The index protects consumers by divulging those costs and helps planners and decision-makers work toward providing truly affordable housing.”

Check out the new site here: http://htaindex.cnt.org.

The Reader Looks at Green Living

Kudos to the Reader's Mick Dumke for a nice piece on living green. This is a story that has been done over and over - but Dumke manages to pack it full of informed nuggets.

Filling the tub for a bath uses around 70 gallons of water, while showering generally takes 10 to 25 for every five minutes.

The average car produces five to six metric tons of greenhouse gases each year, and automobiles are responsible for about 9 percent of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Don’t rinse the dishes first—just put them in the racks and wait to run the dishwasher until the whole thing’s full. The average machine uses 9 to 12 gallons of water per load, while washing by hand typically takes up to twice as much.

A 2005 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that about 4 percent of all residential electricity went to power TVs, and the bigger the set, the more juice it requires. Cutting TV power consumption by 25 percent a year would save consumers hundreds of millions of dollars and keep about seven million metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the study estimated.

See the story at http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/greenday.

Suburbs moving on alt energy

There's a story in the Sunday Tribune on suburbs that are moving forward in turbines at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-windpower_13apr13,0,552015.story.

While some popular models are still between 4 and 7 stories tall, Bright Idea Energy Solutions, an Illinois firm, is marketing bladeless, vertical-axis turbines as small as 4 feet tall for the residential market. Sales have doubled since last year, said Creede Hargraves, the firm's vice president of Midwest operations.

I want one now!

Edgewater at night

Here's a view of the el zipping by at the overpass near the Dominick's

Curitiba Exhibit + Cafe Igarai Artwork Up At Metropolis (Night Of)

Hey, thx to friends + family for coming out to Metropolis Cafe on Granville to see the Curitiba panels along with the amazing exhibit on Cafe Igarai from Sao Paulo state. Here is the link to Igarai's website (in English) which has a description of their women's business project built around embroidery. It's http://www.fafbrazil.com/fafbr/ip.asp?op=News&lg=E&sc=A.

New Yorker on Complicated Game of Measuring Carbon Footprint

Nice piece looks at the new Scarlet A - having an excessive carbon footprint, whether on the individual or corporate level. This piece looks at how complex though it is to accurately measure something's carbon wastefulness.

"Should the carbon label on a jar of peanut butter include the emissions caused by the fertilizer, calcium, and potassium applied to the original crop of peanuts? What about the energy used to boil the peanuts once they have been harvested, or to mold the jar and print the labels? Seen this way, carbon costs multiply rapidly. A few months ago, scientists at the Stockholm Environment Institute reported that the carbon footprint of Christmas—including food, travel, lighting, and gifts—was six hundred and fifty kilograms per person. That is as much, they estimated, as the weight of “one thousand Christmas puddings” for every resident of England."

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/25/080225fa_fact_specter